Saturday, June 28, 2008

A Slow Saturday


Nana and Great Aunt Lois headed down to Tennessee to drop off Nu and Min Joo, so we had a lazy day at home watching the triplets with Pop Pop. After finally getting my book in the mail, we took the kids on an outing to return a large stack of research books the the library. Erin spent time making a cake for Nana's birthday tomorrow.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Go Fish!


This is the new game that the triplets think is hilarious. It involves Erin taking one of a number of foam rubber fish (from a bath time storybook) and shooting them across the room with her mouth. It sort of reminds me of the Muppet character Lew Zealand who also threw fish. Sadly Erin's didn't boomerang back on their own...

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Blueberrying


We took the triplets blueberry picking today. It was quite hot, but we made sure everyone was covered in sunscreen, and that we had lots of water with us.

This was the first time the kids had had blueberries, and they all seemed to love it. (we broke them in half for them to eat) I personally got a stomach ache from eating too many...

In other news, we caught Coraline taking 5 steps today. Somehow, none of us could remember when she transitioned from taking single steps, to taking multiple ones...

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Sheds, Possums, Oh My!


With the help of a captive labor force (i.e. visiting relatives), we finally got to work on Nana and Pop Pop's shed, which they had bought 14 months ago. It turned out it was relatively easy to put up, and we were only slowed down by the frequent rain storms. We tried to convince them not to store their lawnmower and tools in it, as it would make such a cute play house for the triplets.

And then later on that night, once everyone had gone to bed, Sabine the guard dog alerted everyone - One of the triplets' stuffed toys was moving!!! See if you can spot it in the picture above. Somehow, a baby opossum had found its way into the living room, and was playing dead RIGHT WHERE THE TRIPLETS PLAY! So Pop Pop woke me up, I woke Erin up, she woke Nana up, and soon all of us were involved in the Great Possum Round Up. It turns out there is more than one use for a SuperYard portable playpen!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

More Family Visits


Today we had Great Aunt Lois and second cousins Min Joo and Nu Ella arrive. Nu immediately became a favorite babysitter for the triplets, and we hope we get to spend lots of quality time with them this week.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Games We Play


The triplets have been playing more games with each other. A new variation on the chase game is to crawl through the opening underneath the coffee table, and have someone follow you. Coraline is getting quite brave about this. We also caught Betty and Coraline playing tug-of-war with one of their toys while in their carseats. Giggling always ensues when a game is afoot. And then tonight, Arthur started a game of peek-a-boo with us that went on for quite a long time (I only captured the end of it).

In other news, Coraline has taken a single step while transferring between two objects (such as the couch and the coffee table). I don't think it counts yet as her first steps, because that would imply her taking more than one. But she's close. And while we have been watching the dark bruise on her upper gums for a new tooth to come in, today the matching tooth on the opposite side came in without any fanfare.

Tooth count: A-2, B-8, C-5

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Solstice Festival


We celebrated the first day of summer by going to Blacksburg for their first annual Solstice Festival. We enjoyed mango smoothies (which the triplets tried to drink with a straw), saw a costumed dog parade, and visited the farmer's market. Arthur, Betty, and Coraline ate a picnic lunch on the drillfield, where they loved crawling around on the grass (though not Arthur, he didn't like the feel of the grass on his knees). We ended the day with a walk around Virginia Tech's campus.
Oh, and I finally got Betty waving to Coraline (off screen) on video:

Friday, June 20, 2008

Huckleberrying with Em


We took Auntie Em to our favorite hiking spot today - the Huckleberry Trail. Black raspberries were just beginning to come in season, so each of us managed to pick a whole handful during the hike. Next year, though, the triplets should be able to enjoy some as well.

It was a nice leisurely hike, and we saw a giant frog, lots of honeysuckle, and some wild roses.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Shoe Shopping


Today we took Coraline and Arthur shoe shopping with Aunt Em. We tried one pair on Arthur, but they turned out a little too big for him. They also had a sale, but it wasn't as good as the "Buy One Get Two Free" deal we had on the triplets.

The girls are starting to practice walking more, and Betty took another two steps. Cruising on the couch is quickly turning into assisted walking, as the kids support themselves with just one hand. Emily also helped out by giving each of the triplets numerous "walks" around the living room.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Auntie Em


Pop Pop picked up Auntie Em from the airport today. She's visiting for a few days from Singapore, and the triplets are excited to see her again (she met them for the first time last Christmas). Arthur is mesmerized by Emily, and probably ate quite a bit more than he should have at dinner time - he just kept staring at her and passively accepting spoonfuls of food from his Auntie Em.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

First Steps, Part II


Today Betty took her first steps, while Erin was at school. We were working on folding laundry, and Betty was standing and holding onto the couch with one hand. Then all of a sudden, she let go, and took two steps towards Nana, before falling on her face. I missed it, but I did see her later attempts - which included taking a single step (twice), and taking a giant hop with both feet at once. Evidently she is still figuring it out.

In other news, Coraline now has a large bruise on her gums, where her third upper tooth is coming in. It is the exact same tooth that her twin had difficulty getting in.

Monday, June 16, 2008

The Chase

Continuing the series of videos showing how the triplets are learning to interact with each other, here's a video clip of a game all three of them play. Usually Arthur is the chaser (he plays this game with Sophie the dog, too), but occasionally the girls get tired of being the chasee, and take the offensive instead. The game usually ends when they get distracted, or until Arthur catches a girl and starts pulling her hair...

(During this video, Coraline was working on feeding herself lunch)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day


For Father's Day Betty let me sleep in until 6:45 in the morning! It was nice. Here's a quick video we captured today of her signing "doggie" while looking at Sophie outside.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Comedy is Easy. Raising Triplets is Hard.

Now that the triplets are interacting more, they are finding themselves to be hilarious. Small things, especially things out of the norm, set them off into peals of laughter. When Arthur sees one of the girls crawling across the floor carrying a toy or their wubanub in their mouth, he stops to watch them and giggles the whole time. Today, Arthur was playing with a bunch of newspaper advertisements, and Pop Pop tried to take them away from him, one page at a time. Betty, observing the brief tub-of-war each time, thought it was quite amusing. Also, Betty and Arthur are "backseat buddies" in the mini van. The other day Nana caught them holding hands on the way home. Betty would stretch her arm over to Arthur's carseat, and scratch on its denim cover. Arthur would giggle, and then grab her hand with his. They would swing hands for a bit before letting go, and then start the game all over again.

Tonight, after dinner was mostly over, Erin let Coraline try feeding herself, as she was showing interest with the spoon. Notice Arthur again finding this hilarious. Also notice about midway through Cora's victory cry of "I did it!" (or something of that sort) when she finally scoops a tiny bit of food onto the spoon by herself.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Dinner Show


On most days, the triplets require some form of dinner show in order to capture their attention and have them focus on eating (rather than, say, playing with their food, spitting their food, tugging on their neighbor, etc.). Often it consists of having someone wave toys in the background, or play drums on various glasses and pans in the kitchen. Tonight was a rough night, so we had bubbles.

In other news, Betty consistently and accurately used the "doggie" sign twice today, in the morning, and when Erin came home in the afternoon. The girls had been eating a snack in the playpen in the kitchen, and Sabine was furiously pacing on the outside, eager to eat they dropped. Sabine even cleaned off Betty's hands for her, as she stuck her fingers through the wall of the playpen. She realized Sabine wanted something and thought hard about what it was. Eventually she crouched down, grabbed an empty box of macaroni (the box was a play toy), and threw it over the fence for Sabine. Close, but not what the dog wanted. So after I picked her up, we talked about it, and Betty repeatedly made the sign for doggie while she looked at Sabine. Evidently signing comes easier once you've learned to wave, which Betty now does all the time. We'll see if she remembers the sign tomorrow.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Arthur's First Steps!

So this morning, Arthur decided to take his first steps. I was in the kitchen fixing their morning bottles and missed it, but Erin luckily got to see it before she went to work. Arthur had been standing holding onto the edge of the couch (his favorite cruising location), and he let go and took two steps towards his mom. Then he promptly fell on his face. But it's a start. And since I didn't capture it on video, here's a quick clip of a new toy he loves. We had intended it for him to walk behind pushing, but it goes a little too fast for him.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

End of the Day


What do you do for bath-time on a hot day? Why, have a bath in your pool, of course!

And then at dinner-time, Coraline had a bit of trouble with the rice puffs...

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Making Waves

Betty has been steadily progressing through developmental milestones. Today we noticed her eighth tooth has come in, so maybe she'll take a break for a while for her siblings to catch up. Betty (along with Coraline) has also been standing more often on her own. Hopefully I will get a picture of it soon. And finally, she has begun waving at us. Not only will she wave back at us when we wave, but she'll also be the first to wave when she sees us. It is quite cute as she flails her chubby little arm in your direction.

(This picture was taken after Betty decided that there was quite a bit of food left on the table from dinner, and the best way to pick it up would be to use her tongue...)

Tooth count: A-2, B-8, C-4

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Pool Day


Nana brought home a new sandbox for the kids, but as it has been so hot this past week, we turned it into a swimming pool. So for the first time, we lathered sunscreen on the triplets, and squeezed them into their bathing suits.

And sadly, in one of the scenes of the video, Betty stood by herself in the pool moments after I stopped taping...

They each loved the experience. Arthur had a blast splashing around on his own, and Betty and Coraline both loved being squirted with the hose (that is, until I accidentally hit them in the face with it on high....). We can't wait for another pool day!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Bathtime


On some days Betty looks much larger than her twin sister...

Friday, June 06, 2008

First Hot Day


Today was the first really hot day of the summer. In fact, it was so hot that Erin's school closed two hours early! We cranked up the air-conditioning in the house, and for an activity, had the triplets explore the kitchen. They loved seeing a new room, and they were quick to show us that we had not done as good a job as we thought in baby-proofing the area. Afterwards, they ate ice cream for dinner (frozen vanilla yogurt with peaches mixed in). Coraline especially loved it.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Our Quiet Home

Well, after the success of the singing lessons, it is no surprise that our house has gotten louder. In an effort to video-tape more of the triplets interacting with each other, I captured this scene at bedtime, as the three were gathered around the book bucket.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

First Singing Lessons

Today the girls were singing with Nana. Of course I didn't get them on video when they were being extremely cute and singing in unison, but I did bring Arthur over in an attempt to have him join in. We think Betty is adorable with her 100% enthusiasm in singing loudly with her mouth full open.

In other news, Coraline has started standing for a few seconds on her own, and her fourth upper tooth has finally come in. And as I am writing this, Nana noticed that Betty has a 3rd bottom tooth that is huge. Somehow we overlooked this, as it must have come in days ago. But once again, Betty seems to be trying to pull the focus off of one of her siblings.

Tooth count: A-2, B-7, C-4

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Arthur's Walker


Today we realized that Arthur was ready for his walker, and hope that this will encourage him to take his first steps sooner. And as soon as we gave it to him, he quickly showed us that he knew how to work it. This video is from the first time he tried it (that's Coraline's voice warning him of impending impact). Since then, he has been working on trouble shooting. He found that if he pushes hard, he can get it past most obstacles in the room (though Betty and Coraline have proven to be too big a speed-bump to go over). What to do when he got to the end of the room proved to be a challenge, but it didn't take him too long to figure out a solution. Now he carefully walks to the front of the walker, pushes it back to the center of the room, and then moves to the rear so he can begin pushing anew. For now though, we think it is safest for him to use when his sisters are off the ground.

Monday, June 02, 2008

10-Months Old!


We can't believe the triplets are ten-months old now. It seems their first birthday is just around the corner! Here Mr. Mischief (Arthur), Mr. Happy (Betty), and Mr. Funny (Coraline) are looking out from the baby gate in our living room. We have been slowly cleaning/painting/baby-proofing our house, anticipating moving back there with the triplets when Erin's done with school. We figure a year at Nana and Pop Pop's house is long enough :)

We have three overly friendly (and lonely) cats at our house, who were eager to spend time with the triplets. Skye, the biggest and most docile, came into the room today. After nearly bowling over Arthur with his enthusiastic greeting, he put up with all the attention the kids threw his way. Even though the kids pulled handfuls of hair from his coat, and Arthur pulled his tail quite firmly, Skye remained patient with them. For his sake, though, we hope the triplets learn the meaning of "gentle" and "no" sooner, rather than later.

Coraline even got over her cat phobia (from a previous visit), and approached him as well. We can't wait until the next room is cleaned and prepared for the triplets!